Monday, November 12, 2012

Cracking the Darryl Carter - BM Paint Code

In 2011 Darryl Carter teamed with Benjamin Moore to introduce a curated color palette grouped into six families - white, gray-green, blue, khaki, greige and accent. The collection has grown to 48 colors and is prominently featured in his newest book, The Collected Home: Rooms with Style, Grace, and History
. The color choices reflect Carter's impeccable eye for restrained, nuanced color and the complete palette is harmonious and cohesive.

However, when I headed to my local Benjamin Moore store I couldn't locate the paints by their Darryl Carter names which all end with a DC code. Luckily they had one pamphlet in the back and let me borrow the store copy to "translate" the DC (Darryl Carter) codes to BM codes for future, easy reference. As you can see above, Darryl Carter's Georgetown Blue DC-31 is Woodlawn Blue HC 147 in Benjamin Moore's parallel universe.

**I've received a few emails from readers asking about the type of BM paint. My BM store told me it can be done in any of the BM paint types while other stores have said to use the AURA base. Just mentioning that so you'll have this info when you make your choice.

31 comments:

Thanks for the translation! I watched the series of videos he did as part of this collaboration on You Tube and they are actually entertaining and one or two gave a nice glimpse into his house.All best,Phyllis

This is GREAT!! Like Terri above, I plan to put Darryl's book on my Christmas list! At the moment, he is my favorite designer --the one that I would use if I had the budget. Love his curated look and now that I am an empty nester, it feels more doable than when mine was a "family home," ie filled with my kids stuff every day no matter how hard we tried.

You are WONDERFUL and GENEROUS to have done this! Huge, endless thanks. I called Benj Moore a few days ago and they sent me what I was told was their last brochure, but then...who knew what was what? This is the Rosetta Stone we all need. Thank you, thank you, thank you! You have done a great good deed for all your fellow DC fans. And now we're all fans of yours, too.

Please note that the "DC" colors work only with Aura. If you get any DC color in any other BM formula the color will be not be the same. I had half my bathroom painted in Gray Owl Regal Select and I got a second gallon in Sheridan Gray in Regal Select to finish it and the color was darker. The bases are different, as a base Aura has more white. Anyway, if you are using any other formula than Aura then use the BM number that correspond to the DC number. Thanks for doing all the leg work.

These colors are all fab, thank you! I got the last pamphlet at my local store- my question is- to achieve his shade or color we should use aura? Then I guess these are slightly off if I were to use regel? Good to know!

Thank you!! I think this is a terrific tool for me selecting color- thanks for the translation plus the added advice that the 'real' color will be achieved using Aura base rather than Regal Select. I'm all about educating clients on the beauty and saturation levels achieved using BM paint. I never even attempt to 'color' match with less expensive companies- seriously, the paint color won't be the same- thanks again! NG

MIchele, Woodlawn Blue is my favorite BM color. I have it in my living room and also my master bath. I love the way it changes through the day. It pairs so well with Sherwin Williams Greek Villa white as a trim. My friend Garrison Hullinger uses this color in his designs a lot. Glad to see you cracked the color codes!